Mike Karakas

Mike Karakas
Born	December 12, 1911(1911-12-12) Aurora, MN, USA
Died	May 2, 1992(1992-05-02) (aged 80)
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight	147 lb (67 kg; 10 st 7 lb)
Position	Goaltender
Caught	Left
Played for	Chicago Black Hawks
Playing career	1935–1946

Mike Karakas (December 12, 1911 – May 2, 1992) was an American professional ice hockey goaltender in the National Hockey League (NHL) who was the league's first American-born and trained goaltender.^[1] Karakas played six full seasons and parts of two others with Chicago Black Hawks. He appeared in two Stanley Cup Finals, winning once. In 1938, Karakas led Chicago, who had .411 winning percentage in the regular season, to a second Stanley Cup, playing with a steel-toed boot in the last two games of the Finals after he had broken it in the last game of the Semi-finals. Karakas is one of the original members of the United States Hockey Hall of Fame.

Biography

Born in Aurora, Minnesota, he grew up in nearby Eveleth. Growing up, Karakas and Frank Brimsek, who also became a goaltender in the NHL, were battery mates for their high school baseball team, with Karakas catching.^[2]

Karakas played six full seasons for the Chicago Black Hawks between 1936 and 1945. In his first season with the Black Hawks, Karakas was awarded the Calder Memorial Trophy after posting a 1.85 goals-against-average with nine shutouts in 48 games. Karakas was only invited to play for the Black Hawks because their regular goaltender, Lorne Chabot, was injured. After posting four wins in four games, with three shutouts, the Black Hawks made Karakas their starting goaltender; Chabot was later traded to the Montreal Maroons.^[2]

Karakas won the Stanley Cup in the 1937–38 season, playing for the first out of two teams which won the Cup with a losing record. For the 1937-38 Chicago Black Hawks season, their owner, Major Frederic McLaughlin, order his general manager to "ice [him] a team of all American players."^[3] After losing five of its six first games with an all-American roster, some Canadian players were added; however, the team finished the season with an 14–25–9 record for a .411 winning percentage.^[4]

In the playoffs, Karakas suffered a broken toe just before the start of the Stanley Cup final against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Black Hawks were forced to substitute Alfie Moore for Karakas in the first game. After the first game, Moore was ruled ineligible, and the Black Hawks lost the next game. Karakas returned with a steel-toed boot and won the next two games, leading the Black Hawks to their second Stanley Cup win.^[4] Overall in that playoff run, Karakas had a 6–2 record, with two shutouts and a 1.71 goals-against-average.^[2] Karakas also surrendered an overtime goal clinching a Stanley Cup by Toe Blake in the 1944 Stanley Cup Finals.

After helping Chicago win the Stanley Cup in 1938, Karakas asked the team's owners for a US$500 raise. The owners refused the raise, and for the next five seasons Karakas played three full seasons in the American Hockey League (AHL), and split two between the AHL and the NHL.^[5]

Karakas had 28 shutouts in the regular season, and another three in the playoffs in his six seasons in the NHL.^[6] In each of the six full seasons in which Karakas appeared, he played all 48 games. In 1973, Karakas was named as an original member of the United States Hockey Hall of Fame, located in his hometown of Eveleth.^[1][7]

Awards and achivements

• Selected to the AHA First All-Star Team in 1935.
• Calder Memorial Trophy winner in 1936.
• Stanley Cup champion in 1938.
• Calder Cup champion in 1940.
• Selected to the AHL First All-Star Team in 1941.
• Selected to the AHL Second All-Star Team in 1943.
• Selected to the NHL Second All-Star Team in 1945.
• Inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 1973.

Career statistics

Regular season

Season	Team	League		GP	W	L	T	MIN	GA	SO	GAA
1930–31	Chicago Shamrocks	AHA		8	5	2	0	435	16	0	2.21
1931–32	Chicago Shamrocks	AHA		45	29	11	5	2624	65	9	1.59
1932–33	St. Louis Flyers	AHA		43	23	19	1	2702	85	5	1.89
1933–34	Tulsa Oilers	AHA		48	23	25	0	2918	110	7	2.26
1934–35	Tulsa Oilers	AHA		41	20	17	4	2640	77	4	1.52
1935–36	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL		48	21	19	8	2990	92	9	1.85
1936–37	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL		48	14	27	7	2978	131	5	2.64
1937–38	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL		48	14	25	9	2980	139	1	2.80
1938–39	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL		48	12	28	8	2988	132	5	2.65
1939–40	Providence Reds	IAHL		14	7	5	2	860	43	1	3.00
1939–40	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL		17	7	9	1	1050	58	0	3.31
1939–40	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		5	0	4	1	310	18	0	3.48
1940–41	Providence Reds	AHL		56	31	21	4	3540	171	0	2.97
1941–42	Providence Reds	AHL		56	17	32	7	3470	237	1	4.10
1941–42	New Haven Eagles	AHL		1	0	1	0	60	7	0	7.00
1942–43	Providence Reds	AHL		56	27	27	2	3430	216	2	3.78
1943–44	Providence Reds	AHL		24	6	15	3	1440	67	0	3.63
1943–44	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL		26	12	9	5	1560	79	3	3.04
1944–45	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL		48	12	29	7	2880	187	4	3.90
1945–46	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL		48	22	19	7	2880	166	1	3.46
1946–47	Providence Reds	AHL		62	21	31	10	3720	266	0	4.29
1947–48	Providence Reds	AHL		2	1	1	0	120	7	0	3.50
NHL totals				336	114	169	53	20,616	1002	28	2.92

Playoffs

Season	Team	League		GP	W	L	MIN	GA	SO	GAA
1932-32	Chicago Shamrocks	AHA		4	3	1	242	10	0	2.48
1932-33	St. Louis Flyers	AHA		4	2	2	284	6	1	1.27
1933-34	Tulsa Oilers	AHA		4	2	2	260	7	1	1.62
1934-35	Tulsa Oilers	AHA		2	0	2	130	8	0	3.69
1935–36	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL		2	1	1	120	7	0	3.50
1937–38	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL		8	6	2	525	15	2	1.71
1939-40	Providence Reds	AHL		8	6	2	545	21	2	2.31
1940-41	Providence Reds	AHL		4	1	3	279	13	0	2.60
1941-42	Springfield Indians	AHL		3	0	2	160	7	0	2.63
1942-43	Providence Reds	AHL		2	0	2	130	7	0	3.23
1943–44	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL		9	4	5	549	24	1	2.62
1945–46	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL		4	0	4	240	26	0	6.50
NHL totals				23	11	12	1434	72	3	3.01

See also

• History of the National Hockey League (1917–1942)

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Without Fear: Hockey's 50 greatest goaltenders. Chicago: Triumph Books. 2002. p. 223. ISBN 1-57243-48-4-8. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} Without Fear: Hockey's 50 greatest goaltenders. Chicago: Triumph Books. 2002. p. 224. ISBN 1-57243-48-4-8. 
3. ^ Pincus, Arthur (2006). The Official Illustrated NHL History. Montreal: Reader's Digest. p. 52. ISBN 0-88850-800-X. 
4. ^ ^{a b} Pincus, Arthur (2006). The Official Illustrated NHL History. Montreal: Reader's Digest. p. 53. ISBN 0-88850-800-X. 
5. ^ Without Fear: Hockey's 50 greatest goaltenders. Chicago: Triumph Books. 2002. p. 225. ISBN 1-57243-48-4-8. 
6. ^ "Mike Karakas (1935-1946)". hockeygoalies.org. http://hockeygoalies.org/bio/karakas.html. Retrieved 2008-07-18. 
7. ^ "Mike Karakas". Hockey Hall of Fame. http://www.legendsofhockey.net:8080/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/SearchPlayer.jsp?player=18576. Retrieved 2008-07-18. 

Preceded by Sweeney Schriner

NHL Rookie of the Year 1936

Succeeded by Syl Apps

Persondata
Name	Karakas, Mike
Alternative names
Short description	American ice hockey goaltender
Date of birth	December 12, 1911
Place of birth	Aurora, MN, USA
Date of death	May 2, 1992
Place of death